Understanding Your Value Impacts Your Job Interview - An interview with Daniel Stephenson
Here’s the scenario: You are looking for and applying to 3-5 jobs a day. After about a month, you have lost count to the numbers jobs you applied to. Suddenly you get a phone call to schedule an interview with ABC Company. The only thing is you completely forgot you applied to this company!
Now in a frenzied pace you begin researching about the company and the job description that you forgot about Lol! Yep, this has happened to me on several occasions in the past. I thought just knowing about the job description and the company was enough, but I never considered how my value was just as integral with knowing about the company.
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One such person whose mission is to help individuals understand their individual potential and how it can impact their job interview is Daniel Stephenson. I had the pleasure to interview Daniel to learn more about his approach and how he helps clients prepare for the job interview process.
Daniel is the founder and visionary of How to Interview and author of Aspire, Act & Acquire. He began studying the art of interviewing after he found himself underprepared at his first formal meeting at the age of seventeen. Since then, he has acquired in-depth knowledge on key areas such as goal setting, planning, visualization, preparation and growing a career.
How to Interview is Daniel’s vision coming to life. The philosophy of How to Interview is the belief that anyone can have an incredible interview or achieve their goals if they understand how the mind works and the options, we have available to help build a prosperous life.
Ralph: How To Interview is intriguing because you are seeking to inspire change in your clients professional and personal lives. How does helping someone gain awareness of their potential help them when it comes to a job interview and their career?
Daniel: When one sees their own potential, everything suddenly becomes easier. Understanding that your subconscious mind accounts for 95% of everything you do, allows us to plant new habits. These new habits and behaviors become automatic. They start allowing us the life that we truly desire. Everyone is a creator whether they believe it or not. It’s all about making people aware.
Ralph: Why did you decide to focus on helping people empower themselves for job interviews?
Daniel: When I was 17, I had my first and worst job interview. I was awful! At that point, it was very difficult to find helpful resources, let alone a coach. I wanted to help others where I once was left frustrated. Fast forward 15 years or so, I’m a career and interview coach. In reality, I have been a coach for most of my life. I always had a passion for seeing others succeed. I am also very coachable. For some reason, friends always seemed to come to me for interview advice. I remember my first coachee acing his interview. The feeling I got from seeing his delight in achieving what he wanted, got me to start my own business.
Ralph: What would your advice be to someone who does not see the value of preparing for an interview?
Daniel: I can give you first-hand experience of this. I did very little preparation for my first interview. Your lack of prep will become abundantly clear when your interview begins. You might find yourself scratching around your mind to answer the simplest of questions. If you aren’t serious about the job, don’t go in for it. If you are serious, spend an hour a day preparing. “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail” - to quote Benjamin Franklin.
Ralph: Ok, what about those who feel anxious before the job interview? Any advice on how to deal with those anxious feelings?
Daniel: This is something I hear all too often. Anxiety has, for some reason, become synonymous with job interviews. It really doesn’t need to be. To counter potential anxiety, your preparation must start early. Around a week is good, around two weeks is even better. Start by sleeping the same time each night… try and get enough sleep too. Limit your caffeine, nicotine and alcohol intake well before your meeting. You may also want to practice some breathing routines. To finish off, trust in your preparation. Eliminate any stressors by setting off early and planning your day. I actually have a plan for reducing anxiety in my most recent online course, The 5-Day Job Interview Workshop.
Ralph: On a more personal note, what has been your most difficult or challenging interview question?
Daniel: For me, the most difficult questions are the ones you can’t answer. How to deal with this scenario is simple. Ask the interviewer to rephrase the question. If you still don’t have an answer. Make a note of it and get back to them when you’ve had time to think about it. Best answer the question later than make a response up on the spot. A response that could trip you up down the line and make you look silly.
Ralph: The dreaded question I remember is “Tell me about yourself”. What are employees looking to understand from this question?
Daniel: This question will be used as an icebreaker and it’s about giving a brief history of your professional life. Note how I said professional life. They aren’t too interested in your hobbies or what you do in your free time. Trust me, I’ve answered this question wrong, and your interview can downhill quickly! The interviewer wants to know who you are and how you are on the job.
Here are some tips to help answer this question:
Offer samples of your previous work
List your achievements
Include your skills and transferable skills
Include some of your personal interests that are relevant
I’ve covered the most frequently asked job interview questions on my website. There are also a lot of other great resources there, including downloadable interview question help sheets, planning resources and much more. Why not have look for yourself?
For more information regarding Daniel and How to Interview please visit: https://www.how-to-interview.co.uk/